


This is what we all were waiting for. Trace it back to places we have known.

by proboning



Series: I am what you need when you can't find it somewhere else. [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, and lake houses!, um reunions!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-16
Updated: 2012-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-12 07:25:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/488234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proboning/pseuds/proboning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Excerpt: "Turning to see Stiles’s reaction, Derek finds him staring at the other kid in surprise; a small smile tugging at his own lips. “Scott.” They stare at each other for a minute, like they can’t believe they’re seeing each other again."</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is what we all were waiting for. Trace it back to places we have known.

**Author's Note:**

> No beta. I am a lone wolf.  
> More notes where they always are.

*****

“Genim?” Derek bristles. No one’s called Stiles that in years. No one _needs_ to be calling Stiles by that name.

Derek slides a hand into the dip of Stiles’s back as they both turn to face whoever called to him. A kid around Stiles’s age is standing at the other side of the aisle; he’s got light brown skin, curly black hair, and an uneven jawline. He’s holding a melting bag of ice, and it looking at Stiles with a happy, and goofy grin.

Turning to see Stiles’s reaction, Derek finds him staring at the other kid in surprise; a small smile tugging at his own lips. “Scott.” They stare at each other for a minute, like they can’t believe they’re seeing each other again. Derek looks between the two a few times before clearing his throat, saying Stiles’s name quietly. _Scott’s_ attention snaps from Stiles to Derek, and it’s his turn to bounce his eyes between Derek and his mate. Stiles startles a little and looks at Derek, “Oh, yeah. Uh, Derek, this is my best friend from… before, Scott;” Stiles smiles shakily at them both. “Scott, this is my- uh, my boyfriend, Derek.”

Derek glares and Scott sniffs the air lightly; Derek noticed the same mark Stiles has on his arm on Scott’s as soon as he turned around; so he already knows Scott’s a werewolf. Derek gets a nod, one he returns, and that’s as good as it’s going to get, it seems.

Scott turns back to Stiles and smiles a little again. “So you’re going by Stiles, now.”

It’s not a question, and Derek can see Stiles wince a little at Scott’s tone, but he nods. “It was- sort of necessary.”

Scott tilts his head like he’s confused, but he lets it go, realizing that’s a story that doesn’t need to be told in the middle of a grocery store. “It’s really, really good to see you, dude. I wasn’t, you know, sure I would again.

Stiles sighs and takes a tiny step closer to Derek, who isn’t happy with where this conversation is taking Stiles. Derek runs his hand up Stiles’s spine to lightly grip his neck, preparing to make an exit but a beautiful brunette runs up to Scott and groans. “Scott! You’re letting the ice melt!” She sighs and takes the dripping bag from Scott’s grasp and drops it in the grocery cart behind him. She turns around and spots Stiles and Derek, stopping to smile sweetly at them. “Oh. Um, hi.”

The girl looks embarrassed as she flips around to look at Scott, who steps up and places a hand on her back. “Stiles, Derek, this is my girlfriend Allison; Allison, I’ve told you about Genim- um- _Stiles_ , and uh, this is his boyfriend Derek.” 

Allison turns a bright and surprised grin at Stiles. “Oh! Oh! Scott thought you were…” She trails off into a flail of hands and awkward faces. Derek growls; getting the gist of what she’s trying to say, and not liking it a bit. She freezes and deflates a little, realizing she’s hit a sore spot. Scott is glaring at him and Stiles is folding in on himself like he wants to disappear, and Derek’s had enough. “Do you guys want to come out with us?” Allison blurts. “We’re going to Lydia’s lake house. And there’s going to be a couple of other people there, but nothing huge. Just our group of friends.” She looks at Stiles and Derek with an earnest and slightly pleading expression. “And it would be really great for Stiles and Scott to catch up, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know my boyfriend’s best friend.” She trails off and runs quiet.

Derek looks down at Stiles, who looks up at him. Derek raises his eyebrows, he really doesn’t think this is a good idea, but he’ll let his mate decide. It’s more his life than Derek’s anyway. Stiles smiles a little and turns to the others. “Sure. We can hang out for a while.”

Allison and Scott both beam at Stiles. “Great!” Allison says, bouncing a little. “We just have to pick up a few things, but it shouldn’t take long. We’ll just pay for this and grab a few more bags of ice.” She sends a _look_ to Scott, who has the decency to respond with a sheepish one of his own. “And you guys can follow us up, if that’s cool?” Stiles nods and Allison grins again and pulls Scott towards the checkout.

Derek slips his hand into Stiles’s and they walk out of the store to wait in the Camaro. They sit in silence as Derek keeps an eye out for Scott and Allison and Stiles looks at the dashboard. “Are you sure you’re okay with going? We don’t have to.” Stiles looks over at him when he talks, always preferring eye contact. Derek grants him the connection, but only long enough to tell him that it’s okay, and it’s good for Stiles to be getting in touch with his old friends. Stiles hums like he doesn’t believe him; but leans closer to nuzzle into Derek’s neck and lick under his chin anyway. The little brat knows Derek’s really sensitive there and abuses that knowledge all the time.

He pulls away in time for Derek to catch Allison walking towards the Camaro; he rolls down his window as she approaches. She smiles that same bright smile she seems to wear all the time as she leans down to speak. “I just wanted to tell you that the house is about thirty-five minutes north of here, so you’re prepared for the drive.” Derek nods and she walks away, he looks over at Stiles to find him smiling bright enough to rival Allison’s; Derek smiles back and Stiles leans over to kiss him, like he always does when Derek smiles. Stiles says he doesn’t do it enough, he always has that “sourwolf” expression on. Derek nips at Stiles’s lips and pushes him away in time to follow Scott and Allison out of the parking lot.

*****

Surprisingly enough, the afternoon is actually going perfectly well. Though to be fair, Derek always goes into a situation expecting it to go south, it’s just his natural pessimism. 

Stiles actually knows most of the people at the small gathering. He told Derek that he went to school with all of them before, except Allison, who’s newer to Beacon Hills. Allison and Stiles have taken to each other like magnets, much to Scott’s chagrin. They have him as a common link and have been sitting together for an hour telling embarrassing stories of Scott’s childhood and all the years Stiles missed. Despite being reminded that Stiles has missed out on some of the most important years of his best friend’s life, he doesn’t seem to be mourning it; he’s just glad he’s getting to hear about it.

The others are mostly keeping to themselves, having already moved on from the novelty of Stiles being alive and back. But as Derek understands it, they weren’t close enough to really be affected as much as Scott. Jackson, someone with an attitude Derek isn’t particularly fond of, simply shrugged and told Stiles he was glad he wasn’t dead. Jackson, as Stiles said, was a kind of a bully to Stiles in school. Though Stiles was still glad to see him, and it seems Jackson felt the same, though he didn’t know how to show it. 

Danny, another slave werewolf who was freed by finding his mate (Jackson), looked to Derek before giving Stiles a hug; something Derek found surprising, but was thankful for. He seems to be incredibly observant, and also laid back, never getting his feathers ruffled, as it were. He also understood enough to give Derek a heads-up that he wasn’t trying to steal Stiles or anything; he was merely hugging his mate as a friend. Derek likes Danny; he’s smart and seems to have apparently always admired Stiles for his intelligence from afar. Anyone who treats Stiles with the respect he deserves has Derek’s approval.

Then there’s Lydia. Derek’s not okay being in Lydia’s presence. He’s not happy about _Stiles_ being in Lydia’s presence. She’s beautiful and apparently Stiles had a crush on her since they were in elementary school. It’s ridiculous, but Derek’s wolf sees her as serious competition. Stiles might have already realized Derek is his mate, and their wolves both know the same, but the mating isn’t sealed and technically doesn’t really count until they’ve bonded. Something they can’t do until Stiles is eighteen. All wolves have more than one choice for their mate; Derek can’t be sure, of course, but Lydia could be one of Stiles’s. And that is something Derek isn’t comfortable with. Stiles is it for Derek, he doesn’t want anyone else; even if he did find another mate, he wouldn’t want them, wouldn’t even _try_ to pursue them.

So, yes, Derek doesn’t like Lydia right now. Won’t even be able to attempt to until Stiles is officially his. She makes his wolf tense, makes him snappy and cold. But she doesn’t seem to mind, mostly ignores Derek anyway, choosing instead to chatter happily with Allison when she’s done with Stiles.

Stiles, who’s finally got a minute to himself and has decided to come over to sit with Derek. Of course, he’s sitting away from the group; he wouldn’t be Derek if he wasn’t. The others are all in the water, but Stiles and Derek opted out of all the offers of extra swim wear, deciding to stay on the shore for this time.

Derek watches as Stiles stumbles over and lands heavily next to him, he gives Derek a bright smile and an iced tea flavoured kiss then curls next to him with his head on Derek’s stomach and facing his friends. Derek lays a hand over Stiles’s shoulders and rests his fingertips across his mate’s pulse point, smiling contentedly up at the sun. Stiles lays quietly for a few minutes, squirming and wiggling every few seconds. Finally he sighs and bounces his head on Derek’s stomach a few times. “Derek, I love you, but your abs do not make a good pillow.”

Derek suddenly can’t breathe. Stiles has never said ‘I love you’ before, even in a joking manner. Derek has said it only once, and it was on Stiles’s parents’ anniversary; Stiles locked himself in his room and wouldn’t let anyone in; not even Derek. Derek sat outside of the room, grief pouring out of the door cracks, and talked quietly to Stiles the whole time. All of his speaking somehow lead to Derek outlining all of the things he loved about Stiles (at the time, because he’s always discovering more), and it just slipped out at the end. A lonely, and quiet, “I love you” that Derek meant with his whole heart, and one that got Stiles to open the door and let Derek hold him until he felt better.

Derek can feel Stiles tensing under his arm, and quickly takes a breath to calm himself. He knows Stiles feels like he made a mistake, even if the words were said just to make him laugh, Stiles thinks Derek will react badly. That’s ridiculous, of course, he’s said it before so there’s no reason for Stiles to think that; but the kid always doubts himself, even when it’s clear he shouldn’t.

Sliding his palm down Stiles’s side and back up, he cracks a smile and squeezes the back of Stiles’s neck. “Well, they’re not made to be a pillow, so that makes sense.”

Stiles relaxes again and turns his head up to look at Derek’s face. “No, you just work out an absurd amount and they’ve gotten too… hard and muscle-y.” He pokes them for emphasis. “ _My_ stomach is comfortable to lie on.” He pats his own abdomen.

Derek scoffs. “That’s because there’s nothing there. It’s just flat.”

Stiles squawks and sits up; feigning being insulted. “Hey! I’m toned!”

Derek laughs, and watches when Stiles starts fighting a smile. He hums and pulls Stiles down with a handful of his t-shirt, kissing his cheek and then the corner of his mouth before lying Stiles’s head on his shoulder and running fingers through his shaggy buzz cut. “Of course you are, Stiles.”

Stiles snakes a hand around Derek’s waist and wiggles closer, so he’s touching Derek all along his side. Stiles kisses his neck once then seems to instantly melt and fall into a nap. Derek sighs, a happy smile stuck on his lips as he follows his mate into sleep.

*****

**Author's Note:**

> Title Credit: _Magnet_ by Now, Now
> 
> Oh god! I haven't updated in so long, and I'm really sorry! I started writing the next bit, but I don't like it and I'm still writer's blocked so djfbeijb ergkher. I really am sorry. :/ But, in others news! I have thought of another part I wanna write. But it's angsty and horrible and just like the bit I'm having trouble with now. *deep sigh* So there might be a horribly long absence until the next update. So I apologize profusely in advance.
> 
> Guess what I don't own! It's Teen Wolf! In case you forgot. :) I also don't have monies so... If you sue me it's gonna be a bit awkward.
> 
> **And what about that season finale, y'all?! I'm not ready for a hiatus! :''(


End file.
